Dr. Lucky Tran on Spoutible

1/5

The US has just reported its first cases of local malaria transmission for the first time in 20 years. Malaria was considered eliminated in the US in 1951. Climate change poses a huge threat to public health.

cnn.com

Malaria: CDC issues warning about the first locally acquired cases in the US in 20 years | CNN

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning doctors and public health officials about a handful of locally acquired cases of malaria. There hasn’t been a case of malaria caught locally in the US in 20 years.

03:21 PM - Jun 27, 2023

Dr. Lucky Tran

@luckytran

2/5

For context it's important to say that local cases of diseases considered to be eliminated do pop up from time to time. But the worry is that outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases will become much more common in the US as temperatures warm due to the climate crisis.

03:21 PM - Jun 27, 2023

Dr. Lucky Tran

@luckytran

3/5

What is most worrying about the threat climate poses to health is that our public health infrastructure and policies are backsliding. Instead of investing in the long-term prevention and mitigation of disease outbreaks, we are downscaling, and won't act until its far too late.

03:42 PM - Jun 27, 2023

Dr. Lucky Tran

@luckytran

4/5

COVID has demonstrated this harmful cycle of panic and neglect. Politicians wait far too long to invest in prevention, panic when things get bad, then pull back protections far too early. This will be a disastrous response to increasing disease outbreaks due to climate change.

03:43 PM - Jun 27, 2023

Dr. Lucky Tran

@luckytran

5/5

World leaders are not taking climate change as a health threat anywhere serious enough. Our public health and medical systems are not equipped to handle frequent multiple pandemics. We need to *prevent* outbreaks. Keeping fossil fuels in the ground is a matter of our survival.

03:49 PM - Jun 27, 2023